My family & I love salmon. Baked salmon, sautéed salmon, grilled salmon, salmon patties/cakes/croquettes (or whatever you wanna call them), smoked salmon, salmon poke, ceviche, & of course sushi.
We love it all. But in my opinion, the best way to cook salmon is hands down to baste it with butter and/or oil while cooking in a hot skillet.
Wonder if there’s a name for that… other than basting.
The Best Way To Cook Salmon
There’s no special recipe or science to it – well I’m sure there’s a science to it – and the only “rule” is to cook the salmon (or any fish) skin side down
Ingredients
- Salmon filets
- a pat of butter (does anyone else remember their grandma calling it that? What the heck is a pat? For me… a tablespoon)
- 1 Tablespoon bacon fat (it’s old school & it’s for my new school Keto friends)
- salt & pepper
- any additional seasonings you may want (I like a little smokey flavor)
- any additional herbs you like (optional)
The Process
- Season the salmon with salt, pepper, & additional seasonings. Keep it simple, you really don’t need much. Set aside.
- Melt the butter & bacon fat in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
- If you are using any herbs, bundle them & add to the butter/fat. Let that cook for a few seconds. You just want to get the flavor going.
- Place the salmon in the pan skin side down. Let it cook for about 1 minute.
- Carefully tilt the pan to the side slightly and begin to baste the top (flesh side) of the fish.
- Do this continuously until you reach your desired done-ness.
Salmon done-ness, like steak & tuna, is a very personal preference. In general, you’ll know that it’s done when it goes from translucent pink to opaque, which you can start to see happening in the video.
Also… I know lots of people (including my DH) who say they “kinda” like salmon, but not the skin. That’s probably because the skin isn’t crispy or appetizing. This method gives you crispy skin & perfectly tender meat.
The best things about this method are:
- No flipping or checking in every few minutes.
- Almost guaranteed not to overcook.
- Did I mention crispy skin & super tender meat? Yah… there’s THAT.
If you never cooked salmon (or any fish) like this before, give a try. Let me know what changes you make & if you like it!
Oh 1 more thing… don’t forget to save this for later & share it with your friends!
